This book is the first book on the rheological modifiers. In fact, the lack of such a book has prompted authors to fill this gap after spending their long carriers in R&D departments of large companies. The authors found that dealing with the rheological additives have consumed substantial amount of their formulation time and decided to make contribution to shorten the time required for such studies. Each part of the book is written based on their practical experience and for the practical purposes.

The book is divided to four major parts. It begins with the introduction to "Practical Rheology". The authors make this distinction to underline the fact that their intention is to show how to use rheological measurements for the practical purpose of selecting and testing performance of rheological additives rather than to emphasize the complexity of the field. This part is designed to provide a reader with understanding of important principles of rheology and rheological measurements necessary to perform further tasks, discussed in the following chapters, i.e., to select best rheological additives, compare performance of various additives, and to formulate a product.

The next section brings information on 20 chemical groups of rheological additives. This information, based on products of 26 major companies, includes data on more than 1000 rheology modifiers. The selected products are described in a standard manner to be useful for comparison and fast retrieving. The attempt is also made to differentiate products in a given product line.

The third part of the book gives the advice on how to select the best rheology modifiers that must perform in different systems. This part identifies the most suitable candidates and methods of their selection for a given application. Four industries (food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household/institutional) were selected to give examples of development stage. For the same industries, authors suggested formulations (in total 227 formulations of different products) which need to use rheological additives. Although, the book contains specific references to these product lines but the methods of additive selection and the type of additives are applicable to other industries using rheological additives such as, for example, paints and sealants. The other industries will find this practical and comprehensive handbook very useful in daily practice of product development and manufacture.

Authors claim that their approach to the additive selection and testing shortens research time from weeks and days to hours and as such the book may contribute to increased efficiency of research and troubleshooting in industrial operations. The book is also very valuable for universities since it is the only available source of information on the use of these additives that are not sufficiently covered in the university programs. Many future tasks facing university graduates will require this knowledge.

David B. Braun is a research and development scientist and an Associate at Interactive Consulting. His professional career encompasses a broad spectrum of technologies including rubber, plastics, pulp and papermaking, mining, ceramics, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. He has written numerous technical papers and is the author of two books relating to the pharmaceutical industry: Over-the-Counter Pharmaceutical Formulations and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers: A Global Directory. He has contributed chapters to several other books and has been awarded 11 US and several worldwide patents.

Meyer R. Rosen is President of Interactive Consulting, Inc., of East Norwich, NY. He is a director of The American Institute of Chemists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London), Vice President of the Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers, and a Fellow of the American College of Forensic Examiners. His firm consults for many Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Rosen has published 40 technical papers and holds 21 US patents. He writes for the Focus Reports Section of Chemical Market Reporter and for Global Cosmetic Industry.